Yihaaaaaa !
I guess everybody knows about my Suzo leaf joystick fetish. I've owned one since I bought it new in 1984 and it never failed me.
It even made me DK WR holder on the A8
I've been looking for a 2nd exact same one for a couple of years because these beasts are RARE.
They were the very first home-sticks that Suzo made. Not much later, they switched to micro-switches. Although they are still great sticks I don't like the clickety sound and feel of them as much as the all-leaf version.
So....last tuesday I was at the music club (familiar for the early Eurocade crew) for the weekly rehearsal. Every year, our club organizes a flea-market to raise money for the club. Goods are already piling up in the center room of the clubhouse and of course I look if there are some interesting things there. Usually it's not much...with few exceptions (like my awesome stools).
This time though I noticed that there was a boxed Amiga 500. There was a nice note on the outside saying it was not functioning anymore but that it was probably something simple. There was also a 1541 floppy drive in a box ('untested" it said) and a C64 datasette.
I'm having a look at that stuff, maybe to get some myself (if I can get the Amiga running) for a good price for both me and the club, but maybe also to raise the value for sale a bit. What I found next made me jump from excitement though:
I recognized it immediately because the all -eaf stick has a BLACK handle. The micro-switch version has a red handle.
Picked it up and moved the stick....YESSSSSS this is leafsssssss
I noticed that the connector is a bit different and has "AMP" on it. Maybe it has been replaced at one time.
When I turned it over I saw this....now this is funny AND interesting.
There is a black label that says "Made in the UK" but it is EASY to see that under that there is "Competition Pro" and "Made in the US" under it, probably it was in the mold of the base because it feels structured.
Now, I KNOW that these were built in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. I even sent Suzo a mail a couple of months ago to ask about this and they confirmed. There are also several ads from the UK and the US saying "Made in....their country".
Looks like Suzo was "twisting the truth" a bit for the sake of business....
Anyway.....I bought this pre-flea-market for a nice price for both sides and I'm HAPPYYYYYY
